goals- the finishing year and the new year

[maillotpois]

Congrats on those of you who set and made (or came really close to) goals for this year.

I had no goals for 2010 and I didn't even keep track of my mileage, which I have done religiously since 2005. I generally hit between 4000 - 5000 miles a year and have no reason to believe I wasn't right in there somewhere. I did some really good rides, including my longest ride in about 3 years, and had a lot of fun on my bike.

I have some ride specific goals for 2011 (I'm going to do a brevet series and some double centuries), but I probably won't track mileage overall. I'm really trying to focus on quality of rides, not so much quantity. And having fun.

[chicagogal]

2010 was my 1st season racing, so I didn't really have "goals" per se except to have fun and gain experience. I accomplished both, and even had some good results along the way! So now I have some real goals for 2011, mostly centered around races I really enjoyed last season that I am targeting for next season. As such, I don't have mileage goals. I just plan to train smart so that I show up prepared for my "A" races.

[Rebecca19804]

Perfect timing for this thread! As it happens, I sat down last night to complete my data for the year on MyCyclingLog

I didn't have any goals for 2010. Last winter was my first winter cycling. I seemed to spend most of my energy experimenting with winter gear and clothing, while trying not blow the budget on bike stuff every month! My only bike at that point was a Brompton, which was ideal for commuting to my office, but then I was sent on secondment to a client's office which was much further away. Then snow & ice & multiple punctures hit! So I didn't cycle much til my secondment ended in May. Boy, I was so happy to be able to cycle every day again that I did! I lost nearly 15 lbs in May without even trying!

I bought my first full size bike (my vintage mixte) in May and got it on the road at the end of June. Commuted all summer on it - it was true love! (Still is, but I daren't expose all those original components to winter roads, so she's tucked up hibernating right now.) We did our first century in July.

I had all sorts of problems with malfunctioning computers this year, on both the Brompton and the mixte. I know I commuted all through August but have no records of it?! Then the knee surgery at the end of October took me off the bike til just last week.

The only metric I've been interested in noting is mileage. As the year progressed, I formulated an unofficial goal of not letting my weekly mileage drop off from what seemed to be a reasonable benchmark. I didn't always achieve this but sometimes it did make the difference between getting on the bike on a grey morning instead of catching the bus.

The result? For the 9 months for which I have (incomplete) data, my mileage totalled 1,147 miles in 2010.

Looking to 2011? Given my audax plans for the coming year (and beyond... the London-Edinburgh-London in 2013!!), I'm going to aim for 3,000 miles.

It's good to have goals, right?

P.S. There's a woman in my group on MyCyclingLog who is also hoping to do the LEL in 2013... her mileage this year was 20,000!

[NbyNW]

My goal is to move back to Seattle so I can ride outside for more than 4 months of the year.

ETA: I did manage to do a charity ride that I had been hoping to do, which involved two metric centuries over a weekend for the Ride to Conquer Cancer!

[Crankin]

I met my goal this year, which was to ride 3,000 miles. Since I have only done this once before, I set an intermediate goal of 2500 (which I routinely meet) and then when I saw I had hit that earlier in the year than usual, it was no sweat. My total was 3,227. I was helped by clear, warm, and dry weather. Our last snow was March 1, 2010. Except for some flooding rains in April, which did not interfere with weekend riding, I don't think I had to cancel any rides. I also rode outside regularly much longer into the year and my tolerance to cold riding increased, too. Oh, and I started riding in the dark, before work at least once a week this past fall.
As for next year, I hesitate to set any goals. I have the perpetual ones of improving my skills, which while I've kind of given up on, I might have the most realistic chance of reaching than others. I will be graduating in May; once I start working full time, I am not sure how often I will be able to ride during the week. It depends totally on how far away my job is, as well as if I can get some time off during the week (a possibility), and if I can commute. My target job is at a clinic 5 miles away. It's the perfect set up for commuting. I've never worked in the summer before, and believe me, I am worried how this will affect my cycling goals!

[limewave]

It's a tradition of mine to set goals or resolutions. I started it when I decided to stop letting life happen to me and to start living my life instead! I love it.

2010 Goals
1) Lose 40 lbs. I ended up losing 60!
2) Run a 2:30 25k. Finish time was 2:31:06
3) Run a sub 2 hr 1/2 Mary. Finish time 1:59:06
4) Finish Iceman Mntn Bike race in 2:30. Clock time 2:37 and missed podium by one stinkin place

I'm really happy with 2010. I looked at what I thought was possible, and then I set the bar just into the impossible. I achieved things I never thought I could.

2011 Goals
1) Lower body fat % to b/w 18-20% and increase muscle mass to 60+%
2) Run a 2:20 25k in May
3) Run a sub 4hr marathon in Chicago
4) Kill-it at the Du-North Duathlon in Sept (it's a new off-road event, 4 mi trail run, 19 mi mntn bike, 6 mi trail run). It just came up on the schedule so I haven't thought about a tangible goal other than I want to do well there really, really, really badly. It's my new "A" race of the year.
5) Iceman Cometh. I have to say, I'm torn between avenging myself and earning a place on the podium or doing the 8 mile race with DD on the tag-along bike. I think she'd get a kick out of doing something like that.
My biggest goal for 2011 is to continue down the healthy-lifestyle path that I started last year. I want to transform my body and see what's possible for me athletically.

[roadie gal]

I'd hoped to redo my HIM and go under 6 hours. (I did it in 6:09 the year before.) But my blood clot sidelined me. I wasn't allowed to swim at all and I could only ride my bike with other people. As I usually ride alone that left me on the trainer all fall.

I hope to be allowed to start swimming again in the spring. If I can I'll try to do some olys. I don't think my cardiologist will let me do the swimming necessary for another HIM. If I can't swim at all I'll look into duathlons. Either way, I'll keep active.

[hebe]

Wow, every post an achievement!

I only set two goals this year, to ride 50 miles in each of November and December (modest as I'm a brand new cyclist and a stay at home mum). I didn't reach either, largely due to 2 weeks of snow and ice in each month. I'm glad I tried though, and know that my real achievement was learning to ride. I'm hoping to set some fresh goals for the new year, maybe starting off with just 25 or 30 miles in January which should be more attainable.

[limewave]

[QUOTE=limewave;551003]
2011 Goals
1) Lower body fat % -- Well, I didn't lower it as much as I hoped, but I did a bit and have the lowest bf% I've ever had.
2) Run a 2:20 25k 2:13:30!!!!!!!
3) Run a sub 4hr marathon We had a wedding the weekend of the marathon I registered for . . . Didn't run one this year
4) Kill-it at the Du-North Duathlon Family obligations caused me to miss this one as well.
5) Iceman Cometh PR by 15 minutes

I started the year off strong and faded as we got towards mid summer. My parents are very generous and have always watched our kids one night a week. In July they stopped doing that which made it incredibly difficult to train (especially on the bike). Then the mntn bike trails by us that were supposed to open did not open. And the wedding clashing with the marathon . . . It just seemed like one thing after another was piling up and I became discouraged.

2012 Goals
1) Run a sub 2:10 25k
2) Ride a couple of XC races with DD
3) Finish a 100 mile XC race
4) Continue to work on lowering my body fat to 17-18%

I don't want to get too wrapped up in mileage or performance goals for this year. A lot of what I'll be capable of doing will depend on the availability of trails in close proximity, help from my parents or how much DH ends up working (or not working) weekends